EquiFlora is a family owned and operated micro apiary located adjacent to the Fraser River riparian zone in the heart of Vancouver.

Janne Potter is the head bee keeper and apiary manager. Janne (pronounced Jay-nee) grew up keeping horses and bees with her father on the very same property that is now home to EquiFlora. She is the leading force behind the apiary’s day to day activities and can most often be found suited-up in the bee yard. Janne is also a full time veterinarian in Vancouver BC and is the owner and senior veterinarian of the West Boulevard Veterinary Clinic.

The other members of our family all work together to help keep the farm running smoothly in its entirety.

Why the name EquiFlora? Our tiny farm is founded on the principles of permaculture. Our horses and goats provide manure that we use to fertilize the pastures and gardens. These pastures and gardens, in turn, provide grazing areas for the farm animals and garden fresh veggies for us humans. The farm animals graze the pastures keeping the vegetation growth in check. The varied vegetation, fertilized exclusively by organic mass from the farm, also supplies pollen and nectar for the bees who produce delicious honey. In doing so, they pollinate the plants to produce big yields of fruit and veggies at harvest time. It is a closely intertwined cycle that is self sustaining and wholly organic; a beautifully simple system! It is this interplay between the horses (Equi), the gardens (Flora), and the bees that inspired our apiary’s name.

At EquiFlora our hives reside on site year round. They are never transported offsite nor leased out for commercial crop pollination. As such our bees are less stressed and neither they, nor the vegetation from which they gather pollen and nectar, are ever exposed to commercial crop spraying of pesticides and herbicides. We feel this a great benefit for our bees, as well as for the hive products that they produce.

Our bee stock from 2013 and 2014 (representing a blend of New Zealand, Fraser Valley and home bred genetics) has been retained on the farm to expand our micro apiary. Our intention is to remain small …producing limited amounts of exceptional honey for local sale to people with discerning palates for the finer qualities of natural honey. As the apiary grows we will be carefully monitoring our bee stock performance in anticipation of expanding from the best of our Queen bees and their offspring. In the years to come we plan to be able to provide strong bee stock, bred to be suited to our West Coast environmental conditions. This will allow us to offer for sale proven hardy local bee stock to fellow bee enthusiasts in Vancouver.

For more information about our honey and other products, please visit our Products page.

To learn more about the apiary and how it runs, please visit our Blog.